A/N: Thanks for the reviews and feedback, and after this chapter events with Shinjuku Ghetto should be done and over with before we start getting to the more funnier aspects of this story as we prepare to move from Ashford Academy to Hope's Peak Academy.
Now the poll to decide Yasuhiro Hagakure's fate is still open for a bit longer on my profile page, although I could kill the guy off I felt that might be character bashing, which is something I try to avoid, but for some characters like Yasuhiro, it's pretty hard. It didn't help when I was discussing the matter with others such as draconichero21 about the matter Yasuhiro was chosen.
Heck, I had even another author calling for Hifumi's demise along with Yasuhiro's, but I decided one would be enough.
As a small treat I'll let you guys in on the fact I intend for Suzaku to attend Hope's Peak Academy under the title of "Ultimate Knightmare Frame pilot," but how that happens, I am not revealing at this time. Kallen could technically qualify for that as well, but Suzaku is the one known to them so…yeah.
Anyway without delay on with the chapter.
2/13/18: edited and cleaned up.
"Dialog from a flashback and the person reading something in their mind."
Thoughts (unless used to emphasize a word in a sentence)
Chapter 9
To Change the World
"So are we having a bad day?"
Suzaku Kururugi awoke to the sound of Lloyd's voice as he was looking down on him as he awoke. The young man quickly recovered, but he was more surprised than anything all things considered. He was lying on the bed inside of a mobile infirmary truck, which he recognized from his days during basic training. He also realized he was without his shirt and protective vest while he had bandages wrapped around his waist.
"It looks like you missed your chance to go to heaven Private Kururugi," Lloyd said pulling back. Present with their superior was Cecile and Chihiro.
"What," Suzaku began as he tried to get up he felt a sharp pain on his right side. Any doubts Suzaku might've had about being alive after he was shot in the back were gone in that instant.
"Ah," Lloyd exclaimed treating the answer like an afterthought, "We're still in the Shinjuku Ghetto."
Cecile joined the discussion, "with Prince Clovis nearby this is perhaps the safest place right now."
The young woman presented Suzaku with an old broken pocket watch held in white cloth.
"This is what saved your life."
"It was under your protective suit, which deflected the bullet."
"Is it a keepsake?" Chihiro asked timidly peeking out from behind Cecile.
"Yes, very much so," Suzaku said before accepting the watch back.
"You people believe gods exist in everything, including objects and-" Lloyd was saying before Suzaku interrupted him.
"Where is," Suzaku began before catching him and asking in a more professional tone, "what is the situation?"
"The poison gas was released, resulting in massive casualties," Lloyd replied, but this tone seemingly hinted at a lack of interest.
Suzaku didn't protest the fact he knew the poison gas was a fake story created to recapture that girl because he knew that would only work against him or worse. Yet this caused a terrible thought to cross his mind.
Are they wiping out everyone to cover it up?!
He wanted to believe otherwise but his superior ordering Lelouch to be killed confirmed this fear. More than anything he wanted to protest such pointless cruelty, but he knew that just being a Britannian grunt he would only be shot for treason if he spoke out of turn.
"They haven't caught the ones responsible," Cecile added.
"They haven't," Suzaku said before a hopeful thought came to mind.
If I catch them, maybe it might convince them to stop.
He knew it was unlikely they would stop at this point, but it was the only option open to him. It could even give him a chance to save Lelouch, Junko and the girl with them.
Of course, that was easier said than done, but it seemed fate was smiling upon Suzaku this day.
"Tell me Private Kururugi," Lloyd began, "how much experience do you have with Knightmare Frames?"
Suzaku was surprised and understandably taken back by the sudden question.
"But there is no way an Eleven could be made a Knight?"
With a smirk, Lloyd held up a gold activation key, "well suppose you could?"
Kallen Kozuki couldn't believe what couldn't only be described as a miracle handed to them on a silver plate. Most importantly, they had a real chance to turn the tide and possibly save the surviving inhabitants of the ghettos. For all her fierce defiance and efforts to stem the Britannian onslaught as they began their systematic slaughter of the ghetto's inhabitants, Kallen knew they were doomed. She wanted to believe otherwise, but the cold fact was that they were only delaying the inevitable since she had a Glasgow with one arm, as the other mechanical arm had malfunctioned during her initial skirmish with the enemy Sutherlands.
She managed to eject the arm to create an opening for an escape, but next time she wouldn't be so lucky.
Her fears were almost realized when a pair of Sutherlands had found her while attacking tanks and helicopters attacking the defenseless inhabitants. Kallen might've met her end had it not been for the intervention of their unknown ally who instructed her to lead the Sutherlands into a trap using an approaching train to stop one of the enemy machines. She hopped over it before their unknown ally attacked the other with a surprise attack using a Sutherland he had obtained.
How did he even get that Sutherland? No how did he get all of those Sutherlands for us?
After her mysterious savor disabled the second Sutherland by shooting off its right leg giving Kallen a chance for retaliation, but its pilot ejected. Following the two Sutherlands being dealt with Kallen and the rest of the resistance group, she belonged with arrived upon they discovered the train cars were filled with Sutherlands for all of them.
The only catch was that they had to follow his orders if they wanted to win.
Kallen had many questions, but they were pushed to the back of her mind for now because of ongoing battle they needed to win first.
I am to run decoy and lure the enemy to Ohgi and the others.
Kaname Ohgi, the acting leader of their resistance group, was leading their captured Sutherlands in their counterattack. Kallen would lead enemies into ambushes set up or would even ambush unsuspecting enemy Knightmare Frames to quickly remove them as a threat before they can retaliate. The other resistance members piloting Sutherlands would use ambush tactics on unsuspecting enemies through the direction of their nameless commander.
Despite being outnumbered, they were winning.
Their nameless commander who had made excellent use of his power was understandably pleased with how everything was progressing. Lelouch's counter-attack using the local resistance group after getting his hands on Sutherlands had proven far more effective than he had anticipated which Junko and he attributed to the fact that the enemy here was being commanded by Clovis.
This is work much better than I could've anticipated, but...
If he had one complaint, it would be the fact Junko had to sit on his lap because of the oblivious fact that the Sutherland cockpit wasn't meant for two. Although when operating it Lelouch had Junko sit on his lap so he could focus on piloting more, but when the machine was stationary, they changed positions.
Junko, on the other hand, wasn't bothered by this at all.
"N group you'll continue your advance," Lelouch said as he watched another squad of Knightmare Frames getting eliminated by a skillful pincer maneuver he initiated.
"Someone is having fun."
"I couldn't have expected everything to go this smoothly even with Clovis in command." Lelouch mused as once again he was reminded of a critical reason why anti-Britannia resistance in Area 11 was much stronger than in any other conquered Area.
The difficulty was found in stealing and gathering the Sutherlands onto a train before delivering it to them after he directed one of their own, Kallen, to the train the Sutherlands were loaded on. Thanks to a communicator carelessly left behind by Kallen when she discarded her coat on the truck Lelouch was able to contact them.
From there he was able to issue orders to them while staying safely anonymous.
The Sutherland the duo was in was hiding on the upper floors of the ruined Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building where their machine had a bird's eye view of the ghetto while mindful to stay out of sight while hiding within the building's ruined floors.
"However, I am not only one having fun." Lelouch was sarcastic as he observed that Junko was trying to shift her weight to tease him.
Thankfully, she wasn't sitting directly on his lap knowing that would lead to a slightly compromising position, all for the sake to see how he would react. Just as Junko loved to see what kind of ripples she could make she enjoyed teasing Lelouch no matter where they were.
Even a deadly situation like this was no exception.
"Oh, whatever do you mean?" Junko said adopting an innocent smile while at the same time adopting a suggestive pose just to tease the young man. "Don't tell me you don't enjoy being in a cramped space with a beautiful woman?"
Lelouch said nothing because he knew Junko would find some way to turn it around on him.
Thankfully Lelouch was interrupted by a call from a member of the designated P group.
"This is P group we have spotted an unknown group?"
"What was that?"
"I don't think they are with the Britannians, but I don't know if they are on our side."
At that moment away from where the Britannian Army was fighting the surprise counterattack of the resistance group who had through means unknown to them had gotten their hands on Sutherlands. A squad of Knightmare Frames was chasing down a group of fleeing civilians, but suddenly the Type-H01 Gloucester Drill Offensive TM piloted by Masaru through the crumbling remains of a building using one of its drill arms before driving said drill into the cockpit of first Sutherland viciously killing its pilot.
The remaining four Sutherlands reacted, but as they backed away to mount a counter attack one of them was picked off by Nagisa's Type-S04 Gloucester Sniper TM. Its bullet pierced the cockpit of the Sutherland with precision accuracy and the shot from a sniper rifle modified after an experimental miniaturized linear gun punched through the armored cockpit like tissue paper.
The last three Sutherlands retreated, one of them was killed by Masaru driving a drill arm through the chest of the fleeing Sutherland while using the shield built into its other arm to deflect the bullets from the enemy assault rifles as they fought back to defend themselves.
Unfortunately, the two fleeing enemy machines ran right into the Type-P02 Gloucester Heavy Artillery Bomber TM. Without blinking, its pilot, Jataro aimed one of its Gatling guns mounted arm at one of the Sutherlands seconds before reducing it to Swiss cheese. The last Sutherland tried to run for it, but Kotoko caught the fleeing enemy by ambushing it at the end of the alleyway before cleaving it into two horizontally with its battle ax. The Type-W03 Gloucester Blade Offensive TM stood triumphantly having secured its first kill.
"Alright, this is a great start, and I already got two hundred points," Masaru announced happily as his companions had at least one hundred points each. "That is why I am the hero!"
"Better be careful that I don't pull ahead of you." Kotoko teased. "You boys almost let a demon escape."
"No, I am just letting you guys in on the fun, but no matter what I am going to win."
Suddenly a series of explosions interrupted the conversation as Jataro had detected a group of tanks in the company of two Sutherlands. After locking onto them, the masked child pilot fired the missiles from its back before bombarding the street ahead of them engulfing it and the enemies in multiple explosions. When the smoke cleared the burning remains of tanks, and two Sutherlands could be seen.
Seconds after that Nagisa was at work clearing the skies of any remaining attack VTOL gunships along with him sniping any enemy Sutherlands he happened to spot.
"If you have time for talking then you should focus on the game." Nagisa scolded.
"I am sure you guys will be mad if one of us beats you." Jataro chimed in before turning his Gatling Guns onto another pair of Sutherlands.
"WHAT!" Masaru snapped, "The hero ALWAYS wins!"
"I won't be left behind by any of you either!"
The Warriors of Hope continued their assault on the Britannian forces as the former prince listened to Ohgi informing him of their actions.
"They have only attacked the Britannians so far, but I don't know any resistance group that has machines like theirs."
Lelouch carefully weighed his options before deciding, "leave them be for now. It helps us if they attack the Britannians, but we'll keep an eye on them just to be safe. It would be unwise for them to attack the Britannians and us at the same time, so leave them be."
"Alright," Ohgi said, although he was uncertain of this unknown third party they were attacking the Britannians that would help them towards their goal of driving them from the ghetto.
After Lelouch shut off the radio, although Junko knew the machines attacking were the Warriors of Hope she struck up a conversation with Lelouch for the sake of keeping any possible suspicion off of her.
"If they are not with Britannia, who do you think those machines belong to?"
"Hard to say, although there are only a few organizations who might have the means to create machines the resistance has just described because they don't sound like Glasgows bought off the Black Market," Lelouch answered before taking a moment to contemplate the rest of his response. "Kyoto Group is the most likely suspect since it would make sense they would pursue Knightmare Frame development to liberate their country from Britannia. However, even there is a limit to what they can do in that regard, so they are probably reaching out to outside parties such as the Chinese Federation to help their development projects."
Lelouch didn't think that the Chinese Federation as a whole was involved since he didn't doubt some of its higher-ups would rather see Japan become a dominion under them than a liberated country. So more than likely Kyoto House was probably dealing with another faction within the Chinese Federation that didn't oppose the idea of Japan becoming an independent nation again. Of course, the civil war now waging in their country left whatever arrangements the Kyoto Group might have with the Chinese Federation in question.
Of course, that was also if Kyoto was dealing with the Chinese Federation, but Lelouch could only speculate at this point without further information.
As if losing his position as Viceroy wasn't bad enough, Clovis la Britannia was faced with an issue that wouldn't see him disinherited he could end up executed instead. The girl who was the subject of his personal research project which he began jointly with members of Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee in exchange for helping them further their own project was now missing. The truck meant to transport her from the Viceroy Palace to Hope's Peak academy was hijacked. The plan was to follow the vehicle back to the hideout of the terrorists responsible for the theft to eliminate all of them fearing the possibility they might've been aware of the truck's real contents even through false rumors were spread around to help hide the truth behind the truck's secret cargo.
This was done in preparation for his title of Viceroy being passed over to his older sister Cornelia once she arrives in Area 11 within the next two weeks. Once the girl was in the hands of Hope's Peak Academy, then he could hopefully hide any traces of his experiments he had been conducting behind his father's back. The rest of the research team and their lab were to be relocated to a town in the Narita Mountains as a further precaution, but some would be moved to Hope's Peak Academy through to maintain contact with the lab and its research team.
Now the situation was further spiraling out of control with the terrorists having somehow obtained Sutherlands of their own and was mounting a fierce counterattack.
T-This can't be happening to me!
Clovis la Britannia was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. His hair was a disheveled mess, and his pale complexion and black rings under his eyes indicated a serve lack of sleep and being under a lot of stress.
They are all useless!
Rising from his throne the Britannian Prince and soon to be former viceroy of Area 11 decided to take matters into his own hands as the terrorists needed to be put down along with those four new machines they had suddenly appeared attacking his men making the situation even worse. No matter what it took Clovis was determined to destroy the terrorists and reclaim the girl, dead or alive. Clovis approached the tactical map in the center of the G-1 command center where Bartley and a group of staff officers stood around trying to desperately change tactics and determine how the enemy was anticipating their movements.
"Bring in Quincy's squad and call in," Clovis began before Bartley interrupted him.
"My lord that will break the encirclement," Bartley tried to caution, but Clovis shot at him a glare before exploding.
"I KNOW!" The prince's tone calmed after that explosive outburst, but it only showed how unhinged the Viceroy had become due to his recent string of failures and setbacks in the past week. "Reinforce the breach with some of the units carding me. All we know is that the enemy is located here, so I want Quincy's squad along with Bretz and all other nearby units to converge on this location. I want to create a noose to put upon them before closing it."
"Yes, my lord," Bartley said, but he was fearful that the Viceroy was making a mistake.
Bartley had no idea how right he was as Lelouch easily realized what Clovis had in mind, which by all accounts was the worst possible move Clovis could've made. Lelouch had every intention to capitalize on his stupidity seeing this as a golden opportunity to deal the enemy a massive blow.
"Q-1, do you have an area map?"
"Yes, but it doesn't have any landmarks," Kallen replied upon being called by her code name given to her by Lelouch.
"It will do," Lelouch said as a smile appeared on his lips, "listen up everyone."
In the minutes that followed a grand total of fifty-two Knightmare Frames had surrounded the area where the resistance group was concentrated. As Clovis intended they were to form a noose around the enemy before closing around them until they had them before wiping them out with superior numbers, although this tactic might've worked if the enemy Clovis was dealing with was a bunch of pathetic amateurs.
With Lelouch's leadership, however, Clovis's plan had a severe flaw that the former prince was going to exploit thanks to the old maps the resistance cell had given them a critical home-field advantage.
Clovis and his command staff had utterly forgotten about the tunnels that run below the ghetto, which were more than big enough for a Knightmare Frame to fit in. Furthermore, thanks to the weakening of the ground and support through years of neglect and damage from the war, including further damage from the various bombardments on the ghetto it wouldn't take much to bring the entire area Clovis and his men had converged on crumbled beneath their feet.
With a smile on his face, Lelouch declared, "With this, I call check."
At the same time as Clovis realized the enemy wasn't at the location, they had been led to believe as all of the Knightmare Frames they had assembled had the area surrounded before converging on the center. Before they could pull out of the region of the ghetto they had been lured to, the entire ground began to crumble as Kallen's machine had struck the weakest point of the ceiling causing a chain reaction resulting in the surrounding area to collapse. The result led to the simultaneous destruction of over fifty Knightmare Frames in one fell swoop.
Junko and Lelouch began laughing at the success of the plan, especially since Clovis has proven how useless he was as a commander. Any other seasoned military commander would've recognized the foolishness of his actions.
Now he was paying the price.
"My plan worked!"
"Of course, it is because Clovis is a fucking idiot who cannot command troops literally to save his own ass!" Junko said, before adding, "What I wouldn't give for a chance to see the look on Clovis's face right now."
For Junko Enoshima the sight of Clovis on the G-1 command bridge would've been priceless to behold as his face had turned pale with the blood draining from his face and his expression was one of frozen horror and at the same time dumbfounded. It was clear he was dealing with someone who is a far better strategist than anyone he had met so far, and without drawing further attention to the situation, Clovis couldn't call in reinforcements. Other than a few Knightmare Frames engaging the mysterious four machines the only Knightmare Frames he had left to call on made up the encirclement that kept the enemy from escaping.
He couldn't use them without creating a breach for the enemy to escape through, but Clovis was virtually out of options.
There was one option left, although he didn't want to owe his older half-brother anything, Clovis had no choice as with a trembling hand and a look of pure desperation in his eyes, he worked the control console to open a line of communication to a particular trailer sitting by the G-1.
"Well hello my lord," Lloyd greeted with his usual laid-back tone, "is there something the special corps can do for you?"
Clovis could tell this was a call Lloyd had been hoping for, but not wishing to drag it on for longer than needed the Viceroy asked one question.
"Can your toy turn this battle around Lloyd; yes or no?"
Lloyd adjusted his glasses, "my lord, be as so kind to call it Lancelot, but yes it can. I have a pilot ready, and all I need is your permission to deploy him."
"DO IT!" Clovis snapped, "I don't care how, but I want the enemy annihilated! If your toy fails, I promise to drag you both down with me!"
Despite Clovis's words and even recognizing he was on the knife's edge of a complete breakdown Lloyd's confidence in his creation did not diminish.
"Consider the situation handled my lord. I'll send out the Lancelot at once."
Lloyd was quick to inform Cecile, who in turn called on their pilot for the Lancelot, Suzaku, who had just finished changing into a new white pilot suit with gold and black trim. Despite the injury he suffered early, he was cleared for duty, but he was warned not to overexert himself. Suzaku stood before Cecile before the black tarp was pulled off reveal a white humanoid-shaped machine with gold trim. Compared to the Sutherland and Glasgow the Lancelot had a thin and more streamlined frame for higher mobility compared to other Knightmare Frames.
Suzaku was awed by the machine before him.
"Is that it?"
"Yes, this is the advance weapon developed by us in the Advance Special Envoy Engineering Corps," Cecile explained through the electronic earpiece Suzaku was wearing, "the Z-01 Lancelot is the world's first seventh generation Knightmare Frame."
"Alright Suzaku if you are ready, then let's get started," Lloyd called through the earpiece.
As the technicians overall the final preparations from the outside, Suzaku boarded the new machine before inputting the necessary information along with the proper codes to proceed with the startup of the Lancelot.
Suzaku felt the machine hum to life as he gripped the controls. He was ready to begin while the display within the cockpit showed all green across the board.
"Lancelot," the young man began, "activate M.E. Boost!"
"Lancelot, launch!" Cecile announced before Suzaku propelled the Lancelot to take off at high speed heading straight into the ghetto much to Lloyd's amusement.
Suzaku had only piloted Knightmare Frames through mostly simulators or when they were testing new variations so this would be the first time he would use a Knightmare Frame in battle. However, the feeling of the rush the speed the Lancelot moved at especially coupled with how it responded as quickly as it was an extension of his own body was quite the sensation and experience.
This is cooler than the manual.
A brief jolt of pain from his side snapped him back into reality.
It didn't take long for Suzaku to find his first victim as the pilot of a Sutherland with the resistance was a man in his early twenties with red hair, a red headband, blue eyes and a small goatee on his chin wearing a purple shirt with black pants.
Shinichirō Tamaki watched the Lancelot approaching him wondering what it was.
"Huh, that doesn't look like a Sutherland."
In the next instant, the Sutherland he was piloting was beheaded causing the cockpit block to be ejected. The Lancelot's only armaments were its slash harkens, but unlike most machines, there were two on the forearms and two on the hips. However, its agility and its innovative defensive capabilities still gave it a clear advantage over the resistance fighters as they were about to find out.
Meanwhile, unaware of what was unfolding, Lelouch was chuckling enjoying his success as he sought to keep pressing his advantage until victory was his. Everything changed when he received news of the Lancelot's attack on the troops under his command.
"This is B group reporting enemy presence."
"Reinforcements huh," Lelouch commented before picking up the radio, "Status?"
"They took out four units like they were nothing."
"Enemy numbers?"
"Its…just one unit, but I think it's a new model. I never seen anything," The resistance fighter was trying to explain before a cry on his end came before the line suddenly went dead.
"What is happening out there!?" Lelouch demanded before contacting another resistance fighter whom Lelouch knew was nearby. "What happened to B-Group?"
"Some kind of new model is taking them out one by one. It's so fast, but it has some kind of shield on its arms that can reflect bullets!" The pilot explained with the background noise indicated the resistance fighter was locked in battle against the Lancelot as it was making use of its Blaze Luminous shields to deflect all incoming projectile attacks.
"It reflects bullets!"
"Yeah what do we do?"
Before Lelouch could answer, he heard the fighter scream before the line went dead.
"Well, it looks like things are going to hell in a handbasket," Junko noted, but she was curious as to this lone unit dismantling Lelouch's forces.
"These so-called terrorists are useless," the former prince snapped in frustration, "despite all of the resources I have given them they are being beaten by one unit."
Calming down to keep his frustration from getting the better of him, Lelouch calmly collected his thoughts; although he was furious his plan was falling apart, he needed to focus on how he could turn this around.
"Regardless if those Sutherlands cannot stand against whatever this new model is then there is little chance we'll fare any better." Lelouch said taking a moment to review the tactical map, "If I cannot corner it then we must escape."
"I get the feeling we should start running."
Not to be deterred Lelouch communicated with the resistance fighters laying out a possible plan to press the attacking Lancelot into a corner and hopefully, an attack from all sides could provide an opening. The two units who had gone to keep the Lancelot pinned down were, unfortunately, no match as the Lancelot's superior capabilities coupled with the natural skill and determination of the pilot easily rendered their efforts useless. In the span of a few minutes, Lelouch heard the cries of the resistance fighters as the Lancelot swiftly found and took them all down until Lelouch and Kallen's machines were left.
Lelouch knew he couldn't win, but while he was willing to concede the tactical victory to the Lancelot, the former prince wasn't out of options yet.
"Hold on Junko," Lelouch replied as the two had swapped positions with Lelouch sitting on Junko's lap in preparation for the Lancelot's attack suspecting if it was as capable as he heard he anticipated the possibility it might find the Sutherland they were in.
The Sutherland had a Chaos Mine in one hand while its assault rifle was ready in the other.
The former prince's prediction proved accurate as a slash harken had struck the ceiling on the floor above the one Lelouch was on. Lelouch tensed up, and after an internal countdown, he tossed the Chaos Grenade before aiming the assault rifle at the floor at his feet. The timing was spot on as the Lancelot arrived on the floor of the building only to be met with shrapnel from the Chaos Mine. Quick reflexes on Suzaku's part allowed the Lancelot to avoid damage barely raising its Blaze Luminous shields just in time, but it provided Lelouch the chance he needed to shoot his way into the floor below him. At the same time as his machine fell he used its assault rifle to fire into the ground, the Lancelot was standing on.
Can you defend from an attack from below?
The walls and the floors, having been weakened from over seven years of inattention and the damage the structure endured during the war, collapsed thanks to a few well-placed shots. However, because the floors and walls could crumble more easily more of the level beneath the Lancelot crumbled with it that was only furthered by the hole Lelouch had made to escape. Lelouch continued to fire the Sutherland's assault rifle hoping to hit the Lancelot, but with the debris falling alongside the enemy machine the former prince knew a direct shot would be difficult or he would need luck if he wanted to hit the white Knightmare Frame.
Luckily for Suzaku, the falling chunks of rock and broken steel bars shielded the Lancelot from Lelouch's attack, but Lelouch still wasn't cornered, and he just began using the walls and even the floor as both a shield and a way to create an opening against a foe.
When faced with a Knightmare Frame, especially one more capable than a Glasgow remember to never fight fair.
Lelouch recalled Mukuro's words during the time she shared with him some experiences from the battlefields she had seen. There was no question the introduction of Knightmare Frames had drastically changed war and battlefields across the world as the other Superpowers hurried to catch up to Britannia and produce Knightmare Frames of their own, although some countries pursued Knightmare Frame development differently new tactics had to be devised.
This was explicitly for countries and groups who had to face Knightmare Frames regardless if they didn't have Knightmare Frames of their own or whatever machine they had was inferior to what their foe possessed. Mukuro and the group of mercenaries she belonged to had faced such situations when they had to engage against enemy Knightmare Frames while most of them they didn't have their own machines to use against them.
However there were two problems with Lelouch's strategy; first, his ability to escape and attack the Lancelot was dependant on how many bullets he had while the second was luck.
All it would take was a stroke of bad luck on Lelouch's part for the Lancelot to catch him.
Of course, there was the building itself because Lelouch began to notice some of the walls and ceilings starting to crumble ever so slightly.
It would be a problem if this whole building came down, but, Lelouch thought before a smile appeared on his face, maybe this can work for my benefit.
With a new and modified strategy in mind, Lelouch began moving towards the edges of the building intending to repeat his actions of evading the Lancelot and counterattacking, but Lelouch was adding a risky new twist to his plan.
Lelouch shot his way into the floor below before the Lancelot could recover expecting that this time the white machine would be anticipating his maneuver, but it also seemed that the Lancelot had also expected Lelouch to do the same thing. The pilot of the white Knightmare Frame clearly recognized that Lelouch knew in a one-on-one fight it had no chance of victory. This only confirmed Lelouch's fears that his plan to counter and put a stop to his enemy would've failed at some point, so it just made his change in the overall strategy even more fortunate.
Instead of shooting at the Lancelot fired at the floor below it as it came down causing it to crash into the floor below where Lelouch was on. After this, the level the former prince was on began shaking causing the internal balancing of his Knightmare Frame to start going off indicating that the building was becoming increasingly unstable. Suddenly the floor gave away below Lelouch as a slash harken had hit the ceiling above where Lelouch had been standing causing him to fall through the hole in the roof before the Lancelot retaliated by performing a spin kick that sent Lelouch flying to the side.
Neither Junko nor Lelouch were hurt, but the young woman held onto Lelouch while mindful to avoid letting his head hit her in the face.
That attack looked familiar, Junko thought calmly noticing how the spin kick the enemy machine had performed was strangely similar to the kick Suzaku had used against Lelouch.
"Damn it I have to get out of here!" Lelouch said as he hurried to get the machine back on its feet, but the Lancelot was already about to deliver a finishing blow with one of its slash harkens.
Thankfully Kallen intervened at the last minute attacking with her one-armed Glasgow to save the one who had rescued her earlier.
"Hey, I am returning the favor!" Kallen called to Lelouch as he wasted no time getting the Sutherland back on its feet.
"Thanks, but get out of here before the building comes down on top of you," Lelouch answered before hurrying off.
Oh, I get it, Kallen thought while realizing what her mysterious benefactor and rescuer had in mind.
Kallen fired the slash harken from her machine, but she missed the Lancelot aiming at one of the stone pillars behind it hoping it would be all that was needed to cause the floors above them to come collapsing down on top of the Lancelot. Suzaku dodged it thinking the slash harken was aimed for his head, but as he began crushing the Glasgow's fist with the Lancelot's hand as they struggled Kallen's machine started breaking down as the damage was apparently too much for it.
Before ejecting Kallen made sure the cockpit block was pointed out of a hole in the side of the building to ensure she would be launched clear of the building before most it would collapse.
After her ejecting the entire building began to crumble as the tower the fight had been taking place in had proven to be too much for the building to handle causing all of the floors above Suzaku to come crashing down threatening to crush the young man along with the Lancelot. Unfortunately for Lelouch and Kallen the Lancelot quickly leaped out of the building through the same hole Kallen had used for her ejected cockpit block to escape through. Using its slash harkens the Lancelot successfully landed on top of a building across from the crumbling Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, although the entire structure didn't crumble to the ground. The left tower where most of the fighting had taken place collapsed causing other parts of the building to beginning collapsing as it was buckling on its own weight.
Suzaku ignored this and began pursuing after the Sutherland; he was convinced was the leader of the ones leading the resistance fighters.
Lelouch and Junko were still in the Sutherland together as it was speeding down the street heading towards Clovis's G-1.
"So you're going straight to the king huh?"
"At this point as I am sure you realize this is my only option. We'll need to ditch the Sutherland and get our hands on-" Lelouch was saying, but he was interrupted by the sound of the proximity alert going off prompting Lelouch to look behind him to see the Lancelot chasing him.
And it was catching up to him.
"Damn that thing is unstoppable!"
Aiming the assault rifle, Lelouch opened fire at the Lancelot before shooting upwards at the buildings to bring down some debris to stop the Lancelot in its tracks. Much to Lelouch's growing frustration, the Lancelot wasn't impeded at all by the falling stone and only, but skillfully, evaded them all and kept on course.
At this moment, however, the base of the building next to the Lancelot exploded outward as Masaru, and his custom Knightmare Frame emerged from the rubble that was sent flying while trying to impale the Lancelot with one of its drill-equipped arms. Suzaku narrowly avoided the surprise attack, but Masaru wasn't the only one as Kotoko was next to attack. She leaped down from the top of the building to the right of the Lancelot with her battle ax ready intending to cleave the Lancelot in two. Suzaku quickly backed away to give himself some space to work with, but had to swiftly use the Blaze Luminous to shield himself from a missile attack from Jataro.
"Those shields of his are pretty good," Jataro commented as he stood a safe distance away from the Lancelot allowing him to focus on ranged attacks.
"This machine is a new model, so don't take it lightly. Furthermore, Monaca did declare whoever destroys it and brings her back a piece of it will win the game." Nagisa said on the roof of a building that was also a safe distance away from the battle while trying to line up a shot to shoot the Lancelot with its sniper rifle at the first opportunity.
"Well, I am going to win because I am the hero and heroes always win!"
"Don't get cocky Masaru!" Nagisa advised, but their leader couldn't even comprehend how he could lose since he was supposed to the hero of their group. Of course, the fact that the Sutherlands they have been facing had presented little challenge to them so far.
Masaru charged intending to drive a drill through the Lancelot, but the white machine evaded before counterattacking with its slash harken beheading the attacking the Knightmare Frame in one move.
The cockpit block was ejected before the machine exploded, self-destructing to protect whatever secrets it might've had, but this allowed Kotoko to attack as she swung her ax at the Lancelot. Suzaku ducked and almost followed it up with another slash harken attack, but Suzaku acting on instinct quickly backed away in time to avoid Nagisa's shot as he almost shot the cockpit of his machine.
A sniper, Suzaku thought before quickly retreating into alleyway knowing that staying out in the open would be dangerous.
"Jataro flush him out so I can get a clear shot!" Nagisa ordered, "Then retrieve Masaru and bring his cockpit block back to Monaca."
"Sure thing, but Masaru is going to be so mad I had to take him back to Monaca."
"That was his own fault for being too overconfident for attacking an enemy like that," Nagisa said as he warned Masaru to be careful to avoid being defeated by a machine that was apparently more superior compared to the Sutherlands they were fighting.
Jataro did as he was ordered and released a missile barrage followed by some shots fired from his mini-gun into the alleyway, although it was likely the Lancelot had already escaped into the street on the other side of the buildings.
"Kotoko, come to me right now. He'll be coming to attack me." Nagisa demanded as he realized what the enemy pilot was likely attempting to do.
"Roger that. Together we'll take down that white machine and Monaca will be so happy!"
Meanwhile back at the Lancelot's trailer near Clovis's G-1 its creators were observing the battle unfolding as the Lancelot was performing well beyond expectations. Even though it had a close one within that crumbling building, it managed to survive and wipe out virtually all of the enemy forces on its own.
"It seems our assumption in the fact that the enemy was using the IFF transponders of our forces to track their movements were right on the money," Lloyd replied as the Lancelot's IFF transponder was turned off. Lloyd suspected that part of the reason they saw through Clovis's tactics and plans was that the IFFs were used to monitor their movements without needing to intercept and study their transmissions.
"Yes, it seems that way because those ambushes were a little too precise."
"Wow, the Lancelot is operating at over ninety percent efficiency," Chihiro commented as he was helping in monitoring and recording all data during its deployment to support further research. Of course, this data was also being used for Chihiro's pet project because he was working on developing a tactical combat analysis program he and Lloyd had named as the Druid System.
"Our pilot is taking his job very seriously, and those custom machines he is fighting look like they were made from heavily modified Gloucester Knightmare Frames," Lloyd remarked as he adjusted his glasses to closely observe the customized enemy machines. "I wonder how the enemy got their hands on those?"
"I suppose you can buy just about anything on the black market these days," Cecile commented as she and Lloyd continued to watch Suzaku battle the two custom Gloucester machines. Suzaku moved to attack the sniper unit from behind, but he was intercepted by the ax-wielding Knightmare Frame having realized his intent after he escaped their ambush.
Unknown to them or anyone for that matter Lelouch and Junko, dressed as Britannian soldiers using the uniform and protective gear they acquired through Lelouch's new powers of persuasion, approached a lone Britannian guard who was protecting the entrance leading into the G-1.
"STOP RIGHT THERE," The guard shouted aiming his rifle at the two, "This is Prince Clovis's personal transport."
"And it is lightly guarded as per my plan." Lelouch said right before he activated his Geass, "Now I would like you to let me and my companion pass, but afterward you will forget you ever saw us and ignore our presences for the rest of the day."
It was fortunate that this soldier wasn't wearing anything to protect his eyes allowing the Geass to effortlessly take hold.
"Yes sir, understood."
Around the same time, Nagisa was trying to avoid the attacking Lancelot, having been recognized as its most dangerous threat, with Kotoko fighting against the Lancelot. Compared to Masaru, Kotoko was faring much better thanks to the young girl being more cautious and not recklessly overconfident like the hero of their group was. However the difference in their fighting skills was becoming more obvious, but the fact she hadn't been taken down was because Suzaku was using Kotoko as a shield to protect himself from sniper fire until he could deal with Nagisa's machine.
After a fierce exchange of attacks, Suzaku knocked the ax from hands of Kotoko's machine before hurling it at Nagisa just as the latter was about to shoot at the Lancelot. The hatchet cleaved the barrel of the sniper rifle in half rendering Nagisa's primary weapon useless, and Kotoko was disarmed and at the Lancelot's mercy.
Acting fast Nagisa began discharging the chaff smoke grenades they were carrying blanketing the street their fight had moved to after Suzaku attempted to ambush Nagisa earlier. Suzaku quickly withdrew suspecting it could be a prelude to another surprise attack since he hadn't seen the third enemy armed with those missiles, but using this opening Nagisa and Kotoko quickly escaped.
By the time the smoke cleared the two machines were gone.
"Suzaku," Cecile asked on an open communication line as her face appeared on the monitor above his head, "do you want to call it quits for today?"
"No," the young man replied, "please let me continue."
That was slightly intense, but where did those machines come from?
Meanwhile, Kallen had made her way to where Ohgi and the others were at their base, which was an old warehouse converted into their headquarters, where they had taken in the fleeing inhabitants of the ghetto who were being hunted down. There was some arguing, mostly Tamaki arguing against a civilian blaming the resistance group for bringing the Britannian Military down on them, but Ohgi and Kallen were more focused on another matter.
"Ohgi, who was that on the radio?"
"Beats me," Ohgi replied before sitting on the ground next to a portable radio system, "he doesn't answer when I call so maybe he bought it."
Suddenly the doors to the warehouse were blown open as Britannian soldiers poured in followed by a tank. Even though there was a few of them armed the resistance group didn't have enough firepower to fend off the soldiers and a tank.
"SEE," Tamaki snapped, "this is what happens when we trust somebody we don't know. We should've used the poison gas!"
"But he…" Ohgi was apparently at a loss for words, which was because he knew nothing would change what was about to happen.
"So this is where you Eleven vermin scurried off to," the commander of the Britannian squad said from his place on the tank as he was partially raised out of its top hatch, "prepare to fire!"
"No…Naoto," Kallen said as the Britannian Army was about to execute them all when suddenly.
"Attention all forces," Clovis announced through an announcement on an open channel and one that was being broadcast via loudspeakers for everyone in the ghetto to hear. "Cease fire at once."
Even though some were shocked at the order, the soldiers under his command stopped at what they were doing.
"I Clovis, third prince of Britannia and royal viceroy of Area Eleven, hereby command you, all forces are ordered to cease fire at once," Clovis ordered before adding further to his surprising order that left everyone, both friend and foe alike, in stunned silence. "You will also cease destruction of any buildings or property. All casualties, whether Britannian or Eleven, shall be treated equally and without prejudice. In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you are hereby ordered, cease fire at once. I shall allow no further fighting."
Taking it as her cue, Junko shut off power to the G-1 command bridge once the broadcast of Clovis's order was sent out.
"Are you satisfied?" Clovis demanded after power within the G-1's command bridge was shut off.
"Very. Well done." The former prince answered.
"And what shall we do now? Sing a few lively ballads, or perhaps a nice game of chess?"
"That has a familiar ring."
Clovis was confused, but Lelouch removed the helmet of his Britannian soldier disguise with his free hand while keeping the gun pointed at him.
Lelouch cast his helmet aside, "Don't you recall? The two of us used to play chess together as boys. Of course, I would always win."
"What?"
"Do you remember, at the Aries Villa?"
Junko was silent, but she couldn't help but smile under the helmet she wore to hide her identity because she had a good feeling where this was going.
Clovis could barely contain his anger, "You! Who are you?"
With a grin, Lelouch began walking out of the shadows and into the dim lighting provided by the emergency lights around the throne.
"It's been a long time, big brother," Lelouch said before Clovis finally got a good look at the face of the man aiming a gun at him. His surprise was clearly written on his face. Lelouch bowed before him as he reintroduced him to Clovis as a mocking gesture. "The eldest son of the late consort Marianne and seventeenth in line to the imperial throne, Lelouch vi Britannia, at your service."
"Lelouch! B-But I thought-"
"That I was dead? You were wrong" Lelouch grinned at Clovis's stunned silence, "I have returned, Your Highness, and I've come back to change everything."
Before Clovis could recover Lelouch rose to his feet slowly approaching him with his gun aimed at the stunned older man.
At this point Clovis recovered from his shock and tried to act a little more pleasant, "I'm overjoyed, Lelouch. They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back. We should depart for the homeland immediately."
Lelouch merely glared at his older half-brother before answer while making to an effort to hide the contempt in his voice. "So you can use me as a tool of diplomacy? It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place."
It took Clovis around thirty seconds to realize what Lelouch was implying.
"That's right. It was because my mother was killed." Lelouch said as the memory of his dead mother clutching his horrified little sister who had her legs shot from that ordeal which was the reason for her blindness and her paralysis. "Mother held the title of knight of honor but was a commoner by birth. No doubt the other imperial consorts held her in contempt. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists, I'm no fool. You people killed my mother."
In that instant, Lelouch allowed seven years of rage that he had bottled up to come out before regaining his composure after it passed.
"THEN YOU SENT US HERE TO DIE!"
"It wasn't me." Clovis cried out in panic as he held up his hands defensively. "I swear to you it wasn't."
"Then tell me everything you know. The truth cannot be hidden from me any longer." Lelouch asked as he activated his Geass, "You shall answer all of my questions!"
"I shall answer your questions," Clovis said in a monotone tone of voice as Lelouch's power took hold.
"First tell me who killed my mother?"
"My brother second prince Schneizel and second princess Cornelia, they can tell you."
"Were they the ones behind it?"
Clovis didn't respond, but Lelouch assumed it was a sign that Clovis didn't know. This hardly surprised Lelouch as he didn't think Clovis was responsible, but there was a chance at the very least he could point him in the direction of someone who was either guilty or someone else who might know more.
"My next question, tell me the truth about the capsule you told your men was poison gas and the nature of that girl with green hair who was locked inside."
"She was a test subject in Code-R, a research project meant to investigate the girl who has a special connection to specific ancient ruins connected to an unknown civilization that my father, the Emperor, has taken a special interest in. The girl herself is special as our own research has revealed. How she is we haven't been able to determine yet."
"Tell me about these ruins you mentioned?"
"I know only that the Emperor has been aggressively seeking to conquer any country discovered to possess one of them. We had just discovered one on an island we have named Kamine Island, located a few miles away from Shikine Island. Once the girl was transported to Hope's Peak Academy for further research, I had planned for a team to investigate the ruins to hopefully learn of their importance to my father."
Lelouch was intrigued by what he was learning, and perhaps there was information to be found he could use against the Emperor.
"Shikine Island I think was called Shikinejima Island?" Junko inquired.
"Answer her," Lelouch ordered.
"Yes."
"How is Hope's Peak Academy involved in this?"
"The Steering Committee has been secretly conducting human experiments into a project named Izuru Kamakura Project, a project to create an individual who specializes in talent by possessing all of the various talents they have researched scientifically. To create one they can deem as the Ultimate Hope." Clovis explained, but this revelation surprised both Junko and Lelouch.
Junko, on the other hand, had been aware that the school had some kind of secret project in the works from Yasuke, but he didn't know any details about it.
"So they are trying to create some kind of clockwork god," Lelouch commented before asking. "How did they obtaining funding for this? What about test subjects?"
"The students of the Reserve Course are both the source of their funding, and they provide a pool of potential test subjects, but they have already chosen one."
"Do you know who the student was?"
"No."
"How did you know about the project and how did does it relate to Code-R?"
"Our experiments have included attempting to recreate the girl's unquiet traits which we discovered could help in manipulating and restructuring the mind. We were reaching out secretly to borrow talented scientists in their employ to further our research while we helped them cover up the disappearance of the student chosen for their experiments. They helped me with Code-R in exchange I helped them."
"Tell me who would have information about your research?" Lelouch inquired, although Clovis knew his fair share of information it might be helpful if he extracted more data from one of the researchers.
"Joseph Fenette," Clovis answered, surprising both Junko and Lelouch.
"Shirley's dad is involved," Junko said before shrugging her shoulders, "well that makes it easy."
Lelouch ignored her because he knew he needed to hurry it up, "who else is aware of Code-R and the project Hope's Peak Academy is running? Does the Emperor know about them?"
"He isn't aware of the Izuru Kamakura Project, but I suspect he was becoming aware of Code-R."
That must've been the real reason he dispatched Bradley to Area 11.
"I see then that's all the questions I have," Lelouch said as those words released Clovis from his Geass.
Clovis he regained his senses, but he had no idea what had just happened, nor did he know that Lelouch had used his phone to record their conversation.
Instead, he instinctively panicked as he spoke, "I swear it wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it."
"I believe you. However-" Lelouch said, causing Clovis to calm down, but as Lelouch allowed his sentence to trail off as he aimed his gun at Clovis's head. Clovis's eyes went wide realizing Lelouch's intention.
Junko began smiling as she was eagerly awaiting Lelouch to blow Clovis's brains out. The look of horror on the Viceroy's face and despair were priceless.
"Please, you can't!" Clovis pleaded, "We may have different mothers, but you and I are still blood."
Lelouch pressed the gun up against Clovis's left eye.
He has no reason to spare you. Junko thought. Your royal guards killed his best friend, tried to kill him, not to mention you gave the order for an entire ghetto to be wiped out just to protect your reputation.
The black-haired prince didn't waver, as he prepared to pull the trigger.
"You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty."
"Then Lelouch pulled the trigger," Junko said before exploding into a state of uncontainable ecstasy. "Oh, the despair he felt as his own half-brother killed him in cold blood. The despair of a sibling killing another was so despairingly wonderful to witness!"
Junko couldn't stop from giggling uncontrollably while she started drooling.
"I can't stop leaking!"
Mukuro didn't say anything, but the rest she figured out. Following their escape, they had to go back to retrieve Rivalz's bike before returning to the academy.
The older of the despair sisters remained quiet until Junko calmed down coming off from her despair high.
"Anyway Lelouch is resolving another issue right now, but I am eager to see what happens next," Junko said with a wide toothy grin, but she brought out her cell phone which had a recording of everything Lelouch got out of Clovis. "How long before word gets out about what happens to Clovis. I mean, given how his killer just walked in after Clovis was left alone, so it goes without saying that many heads will roll if word got out."
"It will be chaos, but what is this minor problem Lelouch is handing?"
Junko quickly drew one final picture before holding up a drawing of Monokuma's face over her own before she spoke intimating the bear's voice as close as possible. "I don't think you need me to tell you, idiot. Who sold Lelouch up a creek recently?"
Mukuro realized who Junko was referring to, and at that moment in a sauna, sat a blonde woman in her early forties wearing a towel wrapped around her head and one wrapped around her torso.
Mrs. Ashford was relaxing quietly by herself until Lelouch began approaching her as his left eye was glowing red with the power of the king ready to be used again.
The demon within had been set free.
Monokuma Theater:
Monokuma is seen standing on a large stage before a gathered crowd while the two-tone bear held a microphone in one hand.
"So everyone asks why Monokuma is a bear?" Monokuma asked the audience before answering, "Because bears are more marketable. I mean just check out that other bear who stuffs himself with honey, but there is another bear that loves stuffing nighttime security guards into animatronics suits."
Suddenly a picture of a lobster is lowered.
"Believe it, or not someone suggested that Monokuma be a lobster as something new and unexplored territory of mascot creation to be ventured into. It might be fine for a restaurant mascot, but really lobsters aren't that marketable especially as the main mascot of the series, so Monokuma was born a bear. Which I say was the best life decision I had ever made. Thus ends the secret origin story of Monokuma."
A/N: well Lelouch isn't wasting time taking out a potential problem much to Junko's delight because it's something she could use later if she wants to go specific routes with Milly.
The battle didn't entirely turn out as planned, but then again these are children Suzaku was facing with some experience in piloting a Knightmare Frame, so Suzaku still had a combative edge. But now the Warriors of Hope will be driven to hone their combat skills, especially Masaru. Not to mention Monaca will step up her game and produce better machines for them even.
Now for the aftermath of Clovis's death to play out and Lelouch will not be idle during this time that much is certain.
Thank you all in advance for your reviews and feedback, they are much appreciated.